


The Sorceress and her Apprentice

by BloodyRedApples



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Genderbending, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Male Emma Swan, Nerd Evil Queen | Regina Mills
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:34:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29460594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodyRedApples/pseuds/BloodyRedApples
Summary: After Regina absorbs the death curse, she and Rumpelstiltskin didn’t expect the person who came out of the well.
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan
Comments: 8
Kudos: 65





	1. The Sorceress' Apprentice

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a 5 chapter work. The updates won't be regular. Although I already have the story complete in my head and the outline for each of the chapters, I have not written anything past Chapter 1.
> 
> Please bear with me. All mistakes are my own, I have no Beta.
> 
> The story will loosely follow canon chronological time line but the time in between the scenes in the show will differ.

Prologue

The first cry of a newly born infant could be heard throughout the castle, and what a mighty wail it was. A good omen the old wives would say, a sign of a powerful and just ruler. However, circumstances being what they are, there will be no soothsayer nor tealeaf reading to herald the birth of a royal.

They needed to get to the wardrobe and fast. The queen has already cast her curse and dark purple clouds are fast approaching the castle.

“A mighty roar from a future king” David heard the midwife say. He was taken a back for a moment. Rumpelstiltskin had lied, he told them that the savior, their child, will grow up to be a woman, and on her 28thyear she would come back and break the curse to save them.

“It can’t be” he muttered as he took his child from their midwife.

“Snow, look, meet our son” he says to his wife as he shows her their child.

“Hello there Em… Evan. My dear little Evan.” Snow said with awe in her voice. She deftly runs her finger on her son’s face then turns to look at her prince, “You have to go David, take him to the gateway. Marco should already be there.”

David sprinted towards the highest tower with his son safely cradled at the crook of this elbow, swaddled in a blue blanket with Emma stitched on it. His wife was right, the woodcarver and his wooden son were already there.

“You will take care of the princess my boy. Do not let her out of your sight.” Instructed the old man as he placed him inside the closet.

With tears in his eyes, the shepherd said good bye to his son.

“Courage Prince Evan Rutherford of the White Kingdom, be brave my dear boy.” he kissed his son’s forehead then laid his child in the arms of Pinocchio. He touched his head one last time and closed the door. There was a burst of light, then, the puppet and the prince were transported to another realm.

-0-

It was 2 pm on a Sunday when a loud noise like the sound of a car backfire woke Jackson up from his afternoon nap. It was lazy hour, the only time he can rest before people will be lining up again. The diner door opens to reveal a boy about the age of 8 holding what it looks like a new born infant. He stands up and walks towards them and when he saw the boy stumble, he leaped towards them just in time to catch both children. He was left with an unconscious kid and a crying infant in each of his arms sitting on the floor. And that is how his cook, Angela, found him moments later.

-0-

**_28 years or so later…._ **

****

Regina could feel the curse coursing through her veins. It felt like her blood was liquid fire and burning her from the inside. Finally it stopped but with it the loss of her magic. Her ears were ringing, it was a deafening silence after its constant thrumming within and all around her.

“NO! Where are they? Emma!” she heard Henry cry.

“I’m sorry Henry” she said, trying to placate her son. Unfortunately for her, the aftermath of absorbing the curse has made her dizzy. She leaned back against a tree for support. She closed her eyes to get her bearings right when suddenly Henry gasped loudly.

She opens her eyes to see a long haired blonde man come out of the well. Henry stumbles back to her front, she immediately pulls him behind her and uses her body as a shield from the stranger. She looks around for Gold as back up but it seems that the cowardly imp has made himself scarce.

“Who are you?” she demands and brandishes her hands. “answer me or you will find yourself at the bad end of my fireball” she threatens the man.

“Regina! Oh thank God, it’s me Emma” the man says with a sigh of relief. “Hang on”

Regina looks on as the man who calls himself Emma lowers his upper torso inside the well. He appears to be pulling something or someone.

“Grandma” Henry yells when the head of the pixie haired woman bobs out of the well. He launches himself towards the woman as soon as her legs reached the ground and gave her a hug.

“Henry” Snow gasps. “Where is David? Take me to him”  
  


“He’s in Mr. Gold’s shop, come on!”

Regina watched as her son and nemesis run out of the woods towards the sleeping prince, not a single glance spared to her or to the man who was standing by the well, twin looks of hurt adorn both their faces.

Adrenaline finally leaves her system and her legs give out. She falls back against the tree and slowly slid down. Her vision blurs and as she closes her eyes she vaguely hears Daniel calling her name. And then darkness claims her.

-0-

Emma watches in horror as the brunette crumples to the forest floor. She scrambles towards the fallen woman and can’t help think how small she looks all curled up against the tree.

“Regina! Regina!” she shouts. She takes her head in her hands. “Wake up. Come on, open your eyes” she continues frantically.

She looks around the forest to see if anyone was around but they were all alone. She needs to take Regina to the hospital or to the faeries. She would be definitely mad at her but at least someone can check if she was ok or not. She gently carries her, hooking her arms beneath her shoulders and legs. She stands up but was stumped. She didn’t know how to get out of the woods. She’s never been on this part of the forest before.

She takes a hesitant step to her right and starts walking towards where her son and mother ran. After 10 minutes of walking, she comes into a fork. Taking a chance on her left path, she was about to take a step when she hears the brunette in her arms whimper. She looks at her and sees a pained expression on the fallen mayor’s face. She tries to sooth her by nuzzling her chin to her forehead and that’s when she feels her burning up.

Emma was worried suddenly. Frantic eyes darted to the two paths again. The mayor’s current condition has made her doubt which path to take as she needed to get out of there as fast as possible. The woman was now thrashing in her arms. She was getting desperate and the worry she had for the brunette is growing exponentially.

She closes her eyes in desperation, _she had to take Regina somewhere… somewhere safe, she had to do something, make up your mind Swan, take a step, she had to choose the correct path, she had to… she had to… somewhere safe for Regina.._ her mind rambled on. With a blast of white light, Emma and the woman in her arms disappeared from the forest and appeared in a cloud of white smoke in the mayor’s foyer.

She goes up the stairs and opens the door opposite Henry’s room. She was right in assuming that it was Regina’s. She sets the woman in the middle of the bed, takes off her shoes and tucks her inside the blanket. She feels her forehead, it was still warm but not as hot as before. She goes into the bathroom and wets a small towel. She begins to wipe the brunette’s forehead with it. When she sees that her breathing was getting regular, she sits on the floor and rests her head on the bed behind her. She closes her eyes as she finally feels the day’s events catching up on her and then she goes to sleep.

-0-

Regina slowly opens her eyes, she is groggy with sleep, her body feels battered but she is at least comfortable. As the cobwebs of slumber clear away from her mind, memories of the last several hours come rushing back.

“Henry!” she gasps and sits up. It is then that she sees a blond mass at the far edge of her bed. The man, Emma, was sitting on the floor with her head cradled in her arms. Even sleep exhaustion was evident on her face.

Regina felt unsettled. One minute she was crashing down the forest floor and now she woke up in the comfort of her own bed. She had expected to wake up cold and miserable in the dank forest. Then again she shouldn’t be surprised at all. Emma has never failed to save her. The infuriating blonde and her savior complex, it seems one can’t help it if you’re the prophesized savior of a whole realm. She chuckled at the thought.

She combs her hands through her hair and discovers dried leaves and sticks in there. She was still wearing her soiled clothes. Her bed was ridden with dirt, mud and god knows what. To her chagrin, she noticed that she was still wearing her coat, _at least my shoes are off_ she thought to herself. Although, when she really thinks about it, it would’ve been far more disconcerting if she woke up in her pajamas, the thought of Emma undressing her makes her feel exposed.

With a shiver up her spine, she decides to take a really hot and relaxing shower to fix her frayed nerves. She doesn’t bother waking up the blonde and make her move to a more comfortable location. No matter how many times the meddlesome woman saves her, it still doesn’t change the fact that she is the wedge between her and her son’s love. And besides, absorbing a death curse for her and her mother had to count for something. That should make them in an even footing. Right?

-0-

The blaring of her phone woke Emma from her sleep. Grasping the noisy devices, she answered the call.

“Yeah?”

“Emma, where are you?” she heard her worried mother say.

“I’m at….” she trailed, looking around the room to find the woman’s name she was about to blurt out missing. “Where are you? I’m coming over there” she told her mother instead and ended the call when she told her that they were at the loft.

She gets up and takes another look around the room. She would never have taken the mayor to have a soft side. The room was the complete opposite of her office at town hall, where the other exuded power and dominance, the one she was standing in now was welcoming and dare she say vulnerable.

The bed wad was still unmade and warm to the touch which made her think that the brunette might’ve waken not too long before her. She hears the shower running from the en suite bathroom. _Best time as any to skedaddle_ she thinks, clearly not wanting to face the mayor in an awkward situation. She hurriedly walks down the steps straight through the front door.

She breathes a little easier once she reaches the front porch and the tension starts to leave her body when she sets foot on the sidewalk. She started walking and little by little her strides become faster as she goes farther away from the mayoral mansion. She tries not to think of the way Regina’s soft tresses on her neck when she was cradling her. Before long she was jogging towards her family. She doesn’t want to think about the currently showering mayor. She runs in a blinding speed towards the loft, away from confusing thoughts, away from vulnerable and soft mayors.

-0-

Regina has already stepped in the shower and was under the glorious spray when she heard the ringing of a phone. She heard Emma answer but couldn’t hear the conversation. The sound of feet going down the stairs and the opening and closing of her front door affirmed the brunette that she was once again alone in her house. She releases the breath she has been holding. It was a good thing that she won’t get to face the savior so soon, she didn’t want to appear weak in her presence twice in a row.

She was rinsing off the shampoo from her hair when a thought suddenly struck her. If she absorbed a death curse, why isn’t she dead? _So her theory of siphoning out most of the curse out of her body towards the trees did work._ _It means she can make her body a conduit without…_ She shakes herself from going into more detail in the theories of magic. There was a more pressing matter niggling at the back of her mind, the trees should’ve dried up and died once the curse hit them. The forest was still lush when mother and daughter came out of the well. It was not a death curse that the imp has placed on the well, the hairs on her back rose when she thinks what could the imp want to do with her mother. The troubling warning signs in her brain didn’t turn off though. She still feels like she was missing something.

Once she has dressed herself, she tried accessing her magic once more. She can feel it all around her and the ones currently within her system were still circulating properly. She redirects the flow and tries to probe all of the access points and nodes, doing a full body check-up of her magical circulatory system. She discovers that there was some kind of a force that was clogging her access points, thus preventing her from taking hold of the magic from around her and also preventing the magic from within her from manifesting outside. In simple terms, her magical circulatory system was on lockdown.

She went to her vault immediately to research on how to take off the barrier. Entering her library, she immediately went to stand on the reading pedestal, glad that she had the foresight to enchant it to act like some sort of this world’s Kindle. One just has to think of the title of the book and it will appear in the pedestal. 

Cataloguing her entire library for the first 10 years of the curse has paid off it seems as she didn’t know where to start. After skimming through 5 different books she wished that she could’ve made her pedestal act more like google instead. She was getting nowhere. _That would be her next project once this blasted curse is broken_ she tells herself.

-0-

Emma opens the door finally when she catches her breath and she immediately came face to face with her father, who stood up from the sofa.

“My son” he gasped with unshed tears in his eyes. He turns to Snow and asks. “How is this possible?”

“He was in this form when we woke up in the enchanted forest.”

“I thought the midwife had been mistaken when the curse broke and we found you. Rumpelstiltskin did say that our daughter would be the one to save us from the dark curse.

Emma frowned in confusion, “I don’t understand. Mom, Dad, what are you saying?”

“You were born male. I gave birth to a son.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me this when we were in the Enchanted Forest?! I was beside myself with worry!”

“I wasn’t sure about it, I just had given birth so I didn’t know if my memory was true” defended her mother.

“We were shocked at first, the prophecy said our daughter would break the curse. But then there you were…”

“Evan…” Emma whispers, a past memory came over her.

“Yes, you’re Prince Evan Rutherford of the White and Royal Kingdom” his father said.

Emma was stunned, she felt like fish out of water. Luckily or unluckily, it was at this moment Henry chose to come down.

“Where is my mom?” he says

“Henry, that’s Emma sweetheart” she heard Snow say.

“No, I mean my other mom. Is she okay? She absorbed a death curse to save you guys” his son explained. His worry was evident by the tone of his voice.

“Henry, please let your father breathe” admonishes Snow and Emma can’t help looking at her with brows furrowed.

“I need to take a shower” she says then goes straight to the bathroom upstairs. _They can’t just expect her to accept this_ she thinks. She has been denying what she really was inside practically her whole life. There wasn’t a day in her early childhood that they didn’t drill in her mind that she was a girl. Constant inception until she finally buries it, but it was too late, nobody adopted her in the end.

She absently goes through the motions of cleaning her body as she thinks about her childhood. Tear stream voluntarily from her eyes. She is so confused. Like what she has been doing since forever, she bottles up her emotions and shakes it away from her mind.

Thankfully, one of her parents prepared some clothes for her. She goes down after dressing herself to find her son in a middle of a temper tantrum.

“But you’re supposed to be heroes, why are you not worried about her?”

“Henry…” her mother started

“Look just let me go back there okay? Some heroes you are!”

Emma winced at this, _Regina’s son through and through_ she thought.

They finally notice her.

“Where is my mom?” Henry’s voiced raised in agitation. She was hurt that her son seems to have forgotten her. She was hurt that with the change of his appearance, she is no longer his mom. She doesn’t know what led him to do it, but she lied, “I don’t know Henry. She poofed when you ran away…” from us was left unsaid. With a pent up hurt from her parents and the obvious disinterest of his son, Emma starts to boil inside. She went to the kitchen and turned on the coffeemaker. She didn’t feel good, her hands felt like a furnace.

“Oh Evan” her mother says and that was the catalyst. She lost it, the coffeemaker blew up. Her mother screamed.

“Don’t come near me” she says but David ignores her warning and goes closer. A white light blasts from her hands and the lamp by David’s side explodes.

“I told you not to come close” he shouted. The lights start flickering, a bulb blows up in the living room.

“Don’t follow me, I need some air” she says and runs out of the apartment.

-0-

After what it feels like an eternity, Regina finally finds the potion that could reverse the effects of the curse. The ingredients where available and it was not a complicated to make, however she had to wait 3 days before it was ready. Thankfully her vault was well stocked so she was able to start preparing it right away.

As she began brewing the potion, she can’t help but think about the blonde sheriff and her recent change in appearance. The idiotic woman must have touched a transfiguration stone accidentally she thinks. Easy enough to break, her calculating mind already coming up with all the ways to solve the problem.

Finally, the potion is complete. She just has to constantly stir it for 3 days. It looks like she will not be sleeping in the next 36 hours. She transfers it on a bottle and start twirling it around. She leaves her vault and decides to walk home since she won’t be able to stir the concoction and drive at the same time.

As she was walking, she thinks again about the magic blocker that the imp has set to entrap her mother. Why would he choose to tell her it was a death curse instead of the truth? Snow and Emma are non-magical so they won’t be affected. Then as if she has been doused with cold water, she realizes that it was his plan all along to take away her magic. What nefarious scheme is he planning to do within the 3 days that would need her magic blocked. Is he finally going to kill her? Whether she likes it or not, she needs protection from him. She will never beg that insipid Snow White for her help. She would sooner gouge out her eye with a spoon.

Anger blossomed in her chest, she has been duped once again by that manipulative imp. _Stupid, Stupid_ she thinks. If Henry hadn’t plead with her to save Emma…. _Love is weakness Regina_ she could almost hear her mother say.

She was interrupted on her ever growing fury when a body almost ploughed her to the ground.

“Shit sorry”

“You!” she snarls.

“Regina, just the person I was looking for” Emma said, “I need your help.”

“And why would I help you Ms. Swan?” Emma smiles at that. Trust Regina to treat her the same way.

Already feeling good by Regina’s treatment of her, she charmingly says “Because I am your favorite person?”

Regina sidesteps from the blonde and walks away.

“I have magic”

She stops mid-step and turns to look at the blonde. _Protection_ she thinks.

“I have magic and I can’t control it” Emma then proceeds to hell her about the exploding appliances. “I can’t be near Henry. It’s far too dangerous for me to be with him. Can you teach me how to control it?”

“Why don’t you go to the Blue gnat?”

“Are you kidding me? It was her suggestion to transport an infant to a different realm and put his wellbeing in the hands of a puppet. I’d rather it be you, I trust you to have Henry’s best interest at heart.”

“Even if I wanted to Ms. Swan, I can’t I have to stir this potion for 3 straight days.”

“And you can’t magic a spoon to do it for you?” Emma said with incredulity in her voice.

“The curse that I absorbed, it blocked my magic” Regina finds herself telling the blonde.

“Thank you for that by the way. Wait a minute, what if I told you I have a self-stirring mug in the station.”

“A what now?”

“A self-stirring mug, you know the one that whirls your coffee around until you turn it off or when the battery runs out,”

“Only you Sheriff could buy something as novel as that. Luckily for you, it’s the perfect thing I need. Well then Ms. Swan, go and take this device and come meet me at the house to discuss the terms of your apprenticeship.”

“A what now?” Emma echoes her

“You have 30 minutes Ms. Swan, my house. Don’t be late”

And Regina walks away towards her house. Smirking, her Rumpel problem has just been solve.


	2. Finding Evan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, thanks a lot for the warm reception. I really appreciate your kudos and comments  
> Secondly, please don't be mad, it might take some time before the third chapter is posted. I going back to work.  
> Thirdly, hope you like this second installation. There is a mention of conversion camps and suicide but it will be very brief. You are warned.
> 
> Once again, all mistakes are my own. Thanks to my loving partner for doing the final read through. Happy Birthday baby, I love you.

To Regina’s surprise, Emma knocked on the door barely 20 minutes after their accidental meeting. They were now sitting face to face in her study.

“What can you offer me in exchange for this”

“You know how much a sheriff earns Regina. Will I be able to afford you?”

“ I am not talking about monetary compensation Ms. Swan, try again. I don’t need money”

“You’re not getting a get out of jail pass either.”

“Nor am I going to ask, next.”

“Time, time with Henry”

“You dare use my son against me, savior?” she says with contempt. “Need I remind you, that you gave up Henry under closed adoption? I could easily get custody if we are to follow the laws of this land, anything else? Or are we just wasting our time?”

“What do you want from me Regina?” Emma growls in exasperation.

“The question is Ms. Swan, what can you give me?”

Emma cocked her head to the side in contemplation. “I refuse to be your lapdog, the sheriff’s department will never be on your palms ever again.”

“Then I cannot help you.” Regina appears to rise from her chair.

“Respect”

“You will find that I don’t need nor care about gaining respect of others. Least of all yours” She returns back to her seat and crosses her legs.

“And where has that gotten you madam mayor? Uprisings upon uprisings from your loyal subjects?” Emma sits taller on the sofa. “If they see one of us working with you they might start seeing you in a new light.”

Regina scoffs at that.

“Fine” Emma spats. “you want it all that much? You will have my obedience and protection.”

“Obedience, I like the sound of that.” Regina grins.

“I’m going to tell you again, you will hold no sway in the sheriff’s department. You cannot ask me to do something illegal of this world and others.” Emma rises up from his chair and leans in closer to the mayor. “I will protect you from those who want to inflict pain to you but I refuse to hinder justice from executing itself. You commit a crime, you’re on your own.”

“My my, the savior has a spine.” Regina drawls. “As my apprentice, you shall grant me the “respect” that affords that title” the brunette does the quotation sign. “You will trust me to know what I am doing with regards to your tutelage. When I say jump you jump. No questions asked because in this relationship Ms. Swan, I only know what is best.”

Emma gulps at that but nods her accordance. “You have my word”

“Good” Regina says in an unnaturally chipper way. She stands up. “We will begin tomorrow. Bring Henry for breakfast at 7:30.

-0-

Emma went home later that evening with one less stress off her shoulders. She found her parents having tea in the dining table, talking to each other.

“Hey guys” Emma sits down across her mother.

“Evan…” started Snow but she cut her off.

“Listen, can we ease on the Evan for a while?” She starts to tell her parents about her experience with one of her foster parents but stops midway. Her father and mother were looking at each other having a silent conversation with their eyes. “What did you guys do?” She stands up and starts to pace the room.

“Leroy and Ruby are throwing a welcome back party tomorrow at Granny’s.” Snow cringed at the incredulity on the blondes face. “ I sort of told them about you” she says as she gestures her hands from Emma’s top to bottom.

“Snow!” Emma combs her hands through her hair and yanked it. Looking at the obvious hurt on her mother’s face, she sighs. “what’s done is done right? Nothing you can do about it.”

As she goes up the loft, she saw her dad go to her mom and comfort her. “ We will find a way to make it up” he says.

When she arrived in her room, Henry was in bed reading.

“Hey kid” The blonde sits down by the bed beside him.

“Hi” he says tentatively but doesn’t look up from his book.

A knife twisted in Emma’s heart. “I’m sorry about earlier” She turns towards her son and ruffles his hair. “I went to talk to your mother earlier”

“You did? How is she?” He finally look up him, his hope filled eyes searches answers from her face.

“Better ask her tomorrow then, we’re having breakfast with her”

“Really? We are?” he says excitedly.

“Yup, so better sleep now so you can wake up bright and early tomorrow. G’night kid.” She turned away from him and was about to go down the stairs when Henry called her name.

“Emma? Good night” he timidly says. She turns her back and smiles to him then goes down the stairs.

At the foot of the stairs, she hears giggles, specifically her mom’s high pitched giggles. Time slows down when she realizes what she is hearing, or what her parents are about to do. She returns her feet to her shoes, takes her jacket by the door and runs out of the apartment. There was no way in hell she was going to listen to Snow and Charming having sex.

-0-

“Mom!” Henry launched himself to Regina and gave her a bear hug as he nuzzles his face to her stomach. “Are you ok? Sorry for running off yesterday. Thank you for taking on the curse.”

Regina softens at that, she looks at her son. “Oh Henry” She brushes his hair and leans her face into his head and inhales his scent. It has been such a long time since his little prince has given her this level of affection. She melts into the hug and savors it. Crouching to his eye level, she takes his chin with her pointer and nudges him to face her, “I’m alright see? I bet you’re starving.” She stands up and motions for them to come inside. “You too Ms. Swan”

The brunette walks toward the kitchen and turns to beckon the blonde. The savior hesitates a bit when she sets foot on the landing. She couldn’t blame her the mayor supposes, the last time she was in the house was before the breaking of the curse, she had been saying goodbye. The longing in her eyes almost made Regina not go ahead with her plan. Better not go there she thinks to herself. Thankfully, her son saves her from her thoughts. “Mom, did you cook the whole pantry?” shouted Henry from the kitchen.

She looks back at Emma again, she was sporting the same expression as back then. It’s funny she thinks, even with the stranger’s face, it still managers to evoke the same emotion from before. It seems that they have been thinking the same thing after all. She frowns at that. Emma gives her a subtle nod and she returns it. It’s settled then, they would forget about it. Bury it even. Oh yes, bury it down in an abyssal pit.

-0-

Emma hauls what meager belonging she has in her suitcase, even less now that she won’t need her old clothes. She was packed in no time at all. Henry hadn’t bothered to unpack at all so he finished even faster than her. She takes both suitcases and heads down. Time to face the music she thinks.

_30 minutes earlier…_

Emma was on a high, she hasn’t felt this content in a very long time, maybe not ever at all.

After her initial hesitance in the mayor’s foyer, the day hand improved exponentially. Breakfast was a fun affair, the mayor it seemed had cooked fit for 10 grown adults.

“I couldn’t decide what to cook” she’d said while wringing her hands nervously. “Do you like?” Emma had found her anxiety immensely adorable. They had gorged themselves on the food, well she and Henry did, the mayor was polished as ever. Her mood didn’t even dampen when he asked her how she turned into a man. She then told them what she found out the night before and saw the surprise in Regina’s face at the revelation.

Mothers and son had then went to the study to start her magical learning. Regina had explained to her that magic was emotion and that the way to control it is to master her emotions. No wonder she has a poker face like no other Emma had thought. She discovered all about the laws of magic and was even made to read a book about it while mother and son had gone upstairs to collect some more comics. When they’d returned, Henry had a bone crushing hug and told her he missed and loved her. Emma had been surprised at that, she had close her eyes several times to stop her tears from falling. After finishing the first three chapter of the book, she’d asked the brunette why she was shocked to learn about the cause of her transformation. She had then explained to her that she thought she was accidentally cursed by a transfiguration spell.

“Wow you’re like Professor McGonagall”

The mayor’s brow had furrowed. “Who?”

“Minerva McGonagall?”

Right eyebrow raised.

“Head of Gryffindor House?”

Blank face

“Harry Potter?”

Still a blank face. Emma had turned to Henry to see an equally blank face. She had then convinced them to have a Harry Potter marathon to remedy the gross undereducation of the Mills house. She had smiled and brushed her hands together and said “So when do I receive my wand?”

“Pardon me?” the mayor had exclaimed. “ I am not some two bit magician, I am a sorceress, there will be no silly wand waving whatsoever!”

“More like Snape she is” Emma had concluded. To Emma’s dismay, the day had to end but at least she had been able to invite the brunette to the party at Granny’s.

All of the day’s positivity came to a horrifying crash when she opened the door to find her parents getting it on in the bed. “Oh my fucking god, my eyes!” she bellowed. Both of them dove under the cover and a good thing too as Henry came over the threshold.

“Hi gramma, hi gramps, why are you still in bed?”

“Henry go up to your room now and put on the music” Once Emma was sure that her son was will not hear to their conversation, she turns her back to her parents. “What were you guys thinking? Couldn’t you have put on a sock on the door or something?” She gestured towards the door and flayed her hands around. “I’m going up, you better be decent when we come down. Henry and I will be staying at the B&B for the time being.”

_Present…_

Snow and David are thankfully clothed when Emma went downstairs.

“Aren’t you overacting a little?” His dad’s hands waved at the suitcases she was carrying.

“Overacting? My 10 year old son almost saw you. Last night, you were not exactly quiet, I had to sleep at the station did you know that?

Snow turned scarlet at that and tried to hide her face in David’s chest.

“Look sharing the loft was ok when there was just us, Mary Margaret and me, but 3 adults and a child? This place is practically bursting!” Emma lets go of the suitcases and flails her hands around. Henry comes down the staircase with a stack of comics in his hands.

“Oh good, can I go back to mom’s?”

“I’ll check in with her”

“No”

Emma and Snow answers at the same time. “My child, my rules”. Her hands start to feel like furnace again. Her mom gives her a hurt look. She rolls her eyes internally and exhales slowly. The warmth in her hands start to ebb.

“Mom, you and dad need to have time for yourselves.” She looks at both of her parents and then addresses her dad, “between the curse breaking and our Enchanted Forest escapade, you haven’t spent time with each other. That can’t be healthy.” Snow and David slowly nods and hold each other’s hands. “And for that you need some privacy, and I need to get a memory potion from Mr. Gold” she jokes. Her dad laughs at that while her mom once again hides her face on his chest.

“But we’ve only found each other” Snow turns away from her husband and takes a hesitant step Emma to hug her but hesitates. Emma opens her arms and beckons her mother to her. She rests her chin on her head because she is over 6 feet now. “It’s not like I’m going out of Storybrooke. This town is tiny, you’ll still get to see me every day. And I promise to have dinner here at least once a week.”

“You mean that?”

“Scout’s honor” She sees her father beam at her and pats her in the back.

-0-

Regina felt nervous, she never feels nervous. What has this so called turning in a new leaf reduced her into? All for Henry she thinks, _for my precious little boy._

She’d been ecstatic when Emma brought him over that morning. Seeing his son again inside their home had made her soar. To watch her boy excited to see a home cooked meal and eat with gusto had sent waves of delight to her bruised heart. Even though he had been shoveling spoonful after spoonful to his mouth the same way the man sitting before her had been doing. 10 years of proper etiquette gone in the weeks he was not with him.

Then, when they had been looking for his comics up in his room, he’d told her that he missed her and Emma. She’d asked him why when Emma has already returned.

“That’s not Emma” he’d gestured his hands towards the study.

“Oh honey, that’s still Emma. You can be sure about that. Given yesterday’s events, she is still the insufferable and meddlesome wo… person who came to Storybrooke all those months ago.

“Mom!”

“What does your heart tell you?” Henry had only answered her with a shrug and continued to peruse his comic collection.

“Don’t use your eyes, my little prince, use this.” She had pointed to his heart. He then looked down his chest but she had gently took his chin and made him face her. “The outside is just a shell, who we are inside is what matters. That man in there is still Emma. All the things that make her Emma is still the same, her heart, her mind, her penchant for saving me.” She smiles at him.

Henry had nodded “Okay”

“Do you want me to check her heart for you?”

“Mom”

“See you’re outraged!” she chuckled

“Bad joke”

When they had gone down, Henry had went instantly to hug a very startled Emma.

Regina stilled her resolve and opened the door to Granny’s. “Sorry I’m late.” Cricket sounds.

“Nobody invited you witch” came a growl from the angry dwarf.

Ever her savior, Emma came to her rescue. “I invited her, she saved us yesterday. Without her we wouldn’t be here right now.” She eyes everyone daring them to defy her. In an attempt to dispel the tension, Snow clears her throat and addresses the room.

“Thank you everyone for coming today, we are so happy to celebrate with you our safe return.”

She looks at Emma and raises her glass to her. “To finding family.”

Leroy in his infinite wisdom decided to open his mouth once again. “To Queen Snow and Prince Evan. Welcome back.” Everyone raised their glasses to that except for the three people standing by the door. Henry squeezed both of her mother’s hands.

-0-

After working the room in the arms of her parents, Emma has had enough. She felt like a trophy being paraded around. Good thing Doctor Hopper had felt her unease and asked to speak with her privately. It was a matter of misdirection after that. Finally she made her way through the front door.

She was sitting in the front steps with both hands on her face when the door opens. “Move peasant” the unmistakable voice of the mayor orders her. Emma stands up to let Regina walk past her.

“Thanks” she says to the back of the brunette. She turns around and asks her why.

“Well you’re the only who has not changed how they act around me. Thanks for your consistency I guess”

“Oh believe me Ms. Swan, it’s not the outside that I loathe, it is your very nature I abhor.”

“Is that what you told the kid? Thank you also for that one by the way”

The mayor is caught speechless, she opens her mouth for a retort but no sound comes out.

“Cat got your tongue madam mayor?” Emma chuckles, she moves one step closer to the brunette. “Archie told me you have been going to him, he says you’re getting better. Henry would be happy to know that”

Regina takes one step back, rage marred her face in an instant. “That bug had no business telling you about that.” Her voice hardens, eyes drips with spite. “I shouldn’t be surprised anymore, any friend of Snow White’s cannot be trusted. Blabbering idiots all of you.” She gives Emma a withering stare, turns and walk away.

Emma face palms herself and sits down on one of the chairs. “Hey Evan! Are you okay, you’re missing the party.” Emma just looks at Ruby and shrugs. “I think I just sentenced Archie to death by fireball.” She releases her breath and tells Ruby what has been plaguing her.

“Do you ever feel like there’s something inside you that’s forcing to come out?”

“Well duh, werewolf” she points to herself and sits down in front of her.

“Similar but not quite.” She then tells the lanky brunette about her childhood. On how she used to have dreams as a kid that she was a boy named Evan. That he was the son of a prince and princess and how we would tell it to her foster parents who would take it negatively. The worst one was when one of them sent her to a conversion camp when she was 12. One of her camp mates had committed suicide after one of their nastier sessions. That same night, she had ran away and never mentioned about being a boy ever again.

By the time she was finished, her eyes were red.

“Shucks Em, did you tell your parents this?”

“I tried but it’s like they don’t understand. They just accepted this.”

“Fate has always been good to them, specially your mom. Whatever Regina throws at her, she surpasses it with hope alone. That’s why they trust Fate blindly. It has never failed to help them.”

“Must be nice to be a fairytale princess.”

“You know what, living here in Storybrooke has been the best years of my life ironically. I never had to worry about turning into a werewolf once a month. But then the curse broke, I got really scared. What if I turn on the next full moon, you know?”

“Did you” Emma sniffed.

“I did, but your dad, he convinced me that I was still Red within.” The brunette reached out her hand and puts it into cover Emma’s hand. “Whatever you choose, to accept being Evan or to stay as Emma, you are still you, our loyal, clumsy, caring, chocolate guzzling and bear claw munching Sheriff.”

“Thanks Rubes, that means a lot”

-0-

The brunette looks out the ocean, back straight and unmoving. She was still furious. Her conversation with the intrusive blonde has left her reeling as if someone has punched her. Betrayal can do that to you. She hears the dog before she feels him wagging his tail by her side.

“Good morning Regina.” The doctor stands near the brunette and look out the ocean as well. He smiles at the calmness of the water not sensing the storm brewing to his left.

“You have no right Bug. You had no right to disclose any information about me.” The brunette gripped the railing more tightly but kept her gaze on the horizon. “Least of all that odious savior. Tell me cricket, didn’t your fake degree tell you about the doctor-patient confidentiality, or you just think it doesn’t matter for the evil queen.”

The doctor looks at the brunette, “Regina, I… I thought it would help you with Henry. I didn’t think…”

Regina cuts him off and looks at him, “You thought doctor? I trus… I paid you to help me and … be grateful I have changed bug.” She storms off and walks all the way from the docks to her home. The hunched form of the Sheriff similar to his pose last night welcomes her there. She walks in front of her and waits for the savior to look up. “Regina, I’m sorry for last night. I shouldn’t have… your business is your business.” Luckily for the blonde the anger has seeped out of the brunette during her lengthy walk.

“Indeed it is sheriff. I assume you are here for your lesson?” Regina stares at the stunned face before her and raises her brow. “I keep my commitments Ms. Swan, angry or not, I gave you my word that I would teach you and instruct you I will.”

“Evan” the man stands up, more confident in his posture. “Call me Evan”

-0-

Ever since waking up that morning, the blonde felt like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders. After his talk with Ruby last night, he had gone to bed and really thought about what he wanted. The moment he woke up he’d gone straight to Henry and talked to him, telling him his about his decision. He’d drove him to school and went straight to Regina’s house.

Apologizing to the woman has been surprisingly easy. They continue their lesson and the mayor even shows him how a locator spell works when he got a call from the stable asking his help on a runaway horse.

“Regina? Why do you think I became a girl when I was transported here?” They were currently sitting in one of the benches near the docks. The brunette was explaining to him how to harness the magical properties of different environments.

“I have some theories but it would be better if I saw the tree to be sure”

“We can go to the diner they found me and August, it’s just an hour’s drive away.”

“I’d like to get my magic back before we go there, day after tomorrow?”

Evan nodded in agreement and they continued on his magical training.

-0-

The blonde, the brunette and their son sat in the dining room staring at the handy contraption whirling itself away. 20 seconds more and Regina would be drinking the potion to finally rid herself of the magical blockade in her system.

The last 2 days have been uneventful, she was getting winded hour after hour waiting for the shoe that never dropped. She was certain that the imp was going to do something in the days that her magic was impeded. It helped that Henry and Evan had been eating dinner with her during this time, else she would’ve gone straight to Gold and confronted him.

“3,2,1,0, chug it mom” exclaimed Henry.

The brunette glares at her son, turns off the mug and drink the potion bottoms up. She clutches at her heart and father and son crouched towards her in worry. She gradually unclenches and breathes deeply. Her eyes glimmer purple for a second but return to their usual chocolate brown. Her magic is back.

The next day, Regina found herself at the bitter end of his son’s glare.

“Why can’t I come?”

“You have to go to school kid”

“But…”

“No buts, listen to your father.” Henry stumps away from them crosses his arms in front of his chest and continues to glare at his parents. “Honey, you know school’s important.” Regina brushes his hair and straightens his collar. “We don’t know what’s out there. We will tell you immediately what we find”

“Promise?”

“I swear, pinky promise?” she hooks her smallest finger to that of her son’s

“Mom, I’m eleven”

“You’re still my baby. Have I ever broken a pinky promise before?”

He nods his head no. “OK”

After driving Henry to school, the two immediately heads to the town line. As they were crossing it, Regina feels something different about the barrier. She still could feel a faint glimmer of magic. They finally arrive at the diner. Ordering some light lunch, they ask the waitress if she knows about the infant and child who were found there almost 30 years ago. The owner of the establishment, a man named Jackson, tells them about it. He had given both children to the police and when he inquired on them, they’d said that they were with child services. The 8 year old it seemed had experienced memory loss.

The mayor and her sheriff walk around perimeter of the diner. There was a grove of trees nearby and decided to inspect it. There in the middle was an old elm tree with a hole in its massive trunk.

“This must be it, the portal.” The brunette examines the cavity. There was a thrumming of magic but it was dim. She decided to ask Evan to get a piece of wood so that she can study it back in her laboratory.

They drive back to Storybrooke after that. The mayor makes them stop a few meters from the town line and walks towards the orange line. She raises up her hands to examine the barrier as Evan strides towards her

“Feel this” she points her hands about 11 feet up, he immediately sends probing magic towards the area the brunette indicated. “Slowly, just a trickle.” He concentrates on controlling the flow of magic. The first thing his mentor has taught him was restraint, he smiles when the stream becomes slower and more steady. “And now here” she directs her hands at shoulder level to her front. “How does it feel?”

“They’re not the same. The one there, indicating the upper location is like plastic, it’s springy but nothing goes through it but this one here” he places his palm opposite him. “it’s like a silk screen. I can feel magic seeping away outside.

“That’s a really accurate way of describing it. Someone has tampered with the barrier.” The brunette raises both of her hands towards it. “I can’t change it back.” She turns away and walks towards the car. Evan had to jog just to keep up with her.

“Who could’ve changed it”

“The imp. Now I know why he had to block my magic. But what is his reason to go out of Storybrooke?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally I can use the male pronoun for Evan. I have been struggling in the 2 chapters going back to make sure that I have used the female one. I had to imagine Evan as Emma just to get it through.  
> By the way who do you imagine as Evan? Me, I always use the Ryan McPartlin (Captain Awesome in Chuck).

**Author's Note:**

> I chose to use female pronouns for Emma since she still has not accepted who he/she is in this chapter.
> 
> Regina will still use the female pronouns since to her she is Emma under a transfiguration spell.


End file.
